Taiwanese 3G mobile operator Vibo Telecom yesterday said that it planned to lower its capital spending by 44% this year to focus on further improving its network coverage with the aim of reaching 98% of the population by the end of 2008. The celco plans to spend TWD2 billion (USD66 million) mainly on adding new 3G base stations and upgrading some existing base stations to the HSDPA 3.5G standard. In 2007, Vibo spent TWD3.6 billion on new equipment. The company currently has 4,500 base stations nationwide, and hopes for another 1,000 to be operational by year end. It has about 600,000 subscribers at present and is planning to have more than one million by the end of this year. Company President Chang Feng-hsiung said that Vibo hopes for revenues of TWD6 billion in 2008, which would be a 43% increase on last year's TWD4.19 billion. The company is also considering a new round of share sales to raise funds for operational expenses.

Privately owned Thai telco TT&T’s consolidated revenues in 2007 rose by 8% to THB6.932 billion (USD222 million), largely driven by broadband sales, according to a company release. Despite the turnover increase, the operator recorded a net loss of THB2.028 billion, almost double the loss of THB1.08 billion recorded in 2006. Moreover, the earnings before exchange rate and income tax gains worsened year-on-year from a net loss of THB2.372 billion in 2006 to a net loss of THB2.606 in 2007 due mainly to the decline in revenue from fixed line voice services and start-up operating costs of new services which are expected to generate a large proportion of revenue in the future. TT&T had 1.23 million local fixed lines in service at the end of December 2007, down from 1.24 million a year before.

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In addition to its core traditional fixed line services in provincial areas, which are offered via a build-transfer-operate (BTO) concession with state telco TOT, TT&T has established a number of subsidiaries which operate under their own licences issued by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). TT&T Subscriber Services, which was granted a facilities-based ‘Type 1’ internet licence in August 2005, provides 'Maxnet' DSL broadband internet access services with a subscription base of 200,000 customers at the end of 2007, whilst TT&T indirectly serves additional DSL subscribers via other units including Triple T Broadband, an unconsolidated division in which the telco has reduced its stake to less than 10% for capital funding purposes. Another unit, Triple T Global Net was granted internet licence ‘Type 2’ in November 2006, allowing it to launch international internet gateway (IIG) and national internet exchange (NIX) services in April 2007. The group received a ‘Type 3’ (non-facilities based) telecoms licence in November 2007 under which it launched international (ILD) calling service '102', and was granted further ‘Type 3’ concessions for various additional telecoms services the following month, which it intends to use to expand its product range soon.

MoneyWeb South Africa reports broadband subscriber numbers in the country have tipped the one million mark. Telkom is still the leading broadband provider with 420,000 subscribers for its ADSL service, but Vodacom is gaining ground with 370,000 registered HSDPA users. MTN is also showing significant growth in the mobile broadband arena with 120,000 subscribers, according to the article. ADSL and HSDPA users account for over 90% of all broadband subscribers in South Africa. The other 10% is accounted for by fixed wireless access provider iBurst with 60,000 subscribers, and various wireless ISPs (45,000). However, there is still plenty of room for growth in the market as the broadband penetration rate is currently only 2%, compared to the OECD average of 18.8%.

Entel, Chile's largest telecoms company, has said it plans to invest USD350 million in infrastructure in 2008, a 25% increase on the previous year, with up to 70% of the capital expenditure being channelled into its wireless arm Entel PCS. Felipe Ureta, Entel's corporate finance manager, told the Reuters Latin America Investment Summit in Santiago: ‘It will be a year of high investment. Clearly all this investment stems from demand and will satisfy significant requirements of new services that are appearing, both in mobile and fixed line communications.’ The investment plan for this year will be self-financed from company cash flow, he added.

A new analysis of the global opportunity for WiMAX 802.16e to deliver ´local loop´ broadband connectivity forecasts that WiMAX will begin to take off over the 2009 to 2011 period, exceeding 47 million subscribers globally by 2013.

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A region by region analysis by Juniper Research found that there is a significant opportunity now for WiMAX as a DSL substitute technology. The study explored how WiMAX is well suited to rapid deployment in the many underserved areas, not only in developing areas, but also in developed countries.

Report author Howard Wilcox said: "We determined that the vast majority of the WiMAX 802.16e trials and network contracts which are being announced almost daily will begin by providing fixed broadband. WiMAX can deliver broadband not only to unwired areas, but can also improve speeds for subscribers who are on the fringe of DSL coverage in metropolitan areas. We anticipate that mobile usage will develop after initial demand for fixed and portable services. WiMAX 802.16e is a flexible platform that can operate in all three modes of usage."

Highlights from the report include:

Global WiMAX service revenues, as a DSL replacement technology, will grow to over $20bn per annum by 2013.

The top WiMAX regions for DSL substitution will be: The Far East; North America; Western Europe and Africa/Middle East.

Juniper forecasts that around 12% of the forecast DSL subscriber base for 2013 will be replaced by WiMAX.

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However, the report cautions that the two key issues dictating take-up for this technology will be the availability of suitable devices, and timely network construction. Service providers need to complete build programmes on time in order to achieve sustainable WiMAX based businesses and they also need to translate the many, usually well-publicised trials, into commercial networks offering reliable and attractively-packaged services.

US wireless trade group, the CTIA has announced today that as of December 2007, its industry survey recorded more than 255 million wireless users. This represents a year-over-year increase of more than 22 million subscribers. The industry’s 12-month record for subscriber growth was reached in 2005, when 25.7 million new users came online.

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“Wireless technology has deeply embedded itself into the fabric of our lives; changing the way we interact with the world around us,” said Steve Largent, President and CEO of CTIA-The Wireless Association. “Today more than 84% of America has embraced the wireless revolution, and the new industry survey results clearly show that wireless is the communications tool of choice for consumers. Year after year, the wireless industry continues to evolve, innovate, compete and grow at a rapid pace, and it looks like 2008 is right on track with this impressive trend.”

The survey also recorded record-breaking six-month wireless service revenues of $71 billion. Wireless data service revenues for the entirety of 2007 rose to more than $23 billion. This represents a 53% increase over 2006, when data revenue was $15.2 billion. Wireless data revenues for the year 2007 amounted to about 17% of all wireless service revenues, and represent money that consumers spend on non-voice services.

According to the survey, text messaging continues to be enormously popular, with more than 48 billion messages reported for the month of December 2007 alone - 1.6 billion messages per day. This represents an increase of 157% over December 2006. Wireless subscribers are also sending more and more pictures and other multi-media messages, with nearly 4 billion MMS messages sent during the second half of 2007 alone, compared with 2.7 billion sent over the course of the entire year in 2006.

Other highlights of the survey include: wireless customers using more than 2 trillion minutes in 2007, up nearly 18% over 2006.

The Russian wireline operator PeterStar has reported revenues of USD117 million in 2007, up 23% year-on-year. EBITDA grew 20% to USD56 million and net profit was up 40% at USD33 million, CNews reports. The firm says revenues from data transmission and internet access services were up 34% annually and now account for 36% of overall sales. PeterStar is an affiliate of the Synterra group and operates in Russia’s North West region.

Under a new strategic partnership between Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) and Indian fixed line telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), more than 25,000 Indian villages will be supplied with broadband access via an ADSL2+ network. Under the terms of the agreement, BSNL will deploy NSN’s multi-play solution, which will allow it to deliver cost-effective, high speed Internet access and Virtual Private Network services to its customers. The network will also enable BSNL to provide connectivity to community service centres and other e-governance locations.

As part of the contract, NSN will deploy its Gigabit Ethernet-capable IP DSLAMs SURPASS hiX5625 and chassis-based access switch (SURPASS hiD6615). It will also supply customer premises equipment that will enable BSNL to provide speeds of up to 8Mbps. The network will be ready for commercial operation by July 2008. NSN is in parallel deploying equipment for BSNL for urban broadband access across 20 circles.

Taiwan’s largest cellular operator by subscribers, Chunghwa Telecom, says it is cutting its 3G tariffs in order to boost take-up of its high speed services. The firm is hoping to see a 50% increase in UMTS customers in 2008 to end the year with 3.3 million subscribers. Cross-network anytime tariffs for 3G customers will fall to as low as TWD0.06 (USD0.001) per second, according to a report from the China Post. Chunghwa is also offering increased maximum bundled minutes and further discounts on 3G handsets.

Worldwide mobile advertising is projected to surpass $2.7 billion in 2008, up from $1.7 billion in 2007, but the market has developed slowly and obstacles remain, according to Gartner. Ease of use and relevancy to consumers are two important factors that must be addressed to help build momentum in the mobile advertising market.

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“Innovative developments, such as minimizing the number of keystrokes required to access information, using the phone’s camera to improve the overall user experience and tying content or shopping location relevancy to advertisements will move the market forward,” said Tole Hart, research director at Gartner. “To encourage users to accept advertisements, advertisers must improve the way search results are managed on the handset so that the experience is painless and rewarding to end users.”

“There are a number of players that can benefit from the mobile advertising market moving forward, including brands, merchants, carriers, banks, and bill paying agencies,” said Andrew Frank, research vice president at Gartner. “An important attribute of mobile advertising will be relevancy because the device is very personal to the consumer. All parties win when greater relevancy occurs. The market and consumer will gravitate to content and advertisement messages that are relevant to them.”

The mobile advertising market has generated a lot of hype for a variety of reasons: number of handsets, capabilities of the phone and the major Internet portals entering the market. However, the industry must still overcome several problems to drive the market forward. Some of the impediments to growth include slow adoption of multimedia, lack of consumer acceptance, lack of metric transparency, immaturity of standards, diversity of platforms, form factor issues, cross-media integration priorities and the complexity of the value chain, inventory of content, privacy, education and ease of accessing content.

“Many of these issues will be resolved during the next two years, but the make-or-break question of mobile advertising is: Will customers accept advertisements, and can brands and advertisers drive revenue via mobile advertising?” Mr. Hart said.

While effective targeting can dramatically improve response rates to advertisements, Gartner analysts said this may require existing knowledge of customers' demographics, an opt in to the brand's advertisements, location sensitivity, or contextual relevance to the content delivered.

“Advertising often runs the risk of being perceived as junk mail or a privacy violation, so advertisers must use such targeting techniques with care,” Mr. Frank said. “However, sponsored content has proven successful in other media. There are several companies working on providing mobile content integrated with advertisements. In addition, location has long been thought of as a factor for relevancy, but to date precision has been limited as the capability and the cost of GPS has been too high, along with the low penetration of GPS phones.”

Despite challenges to the market, the industry is still poised for consistent growth. By the end of 2011 worldwide mobile advertising revenue is forecast to surpass $12.8 billion.

New market data released by ABI Research shows that about 440 million Wi-Fi chipsets will be shipped over the course of 2008. This represents a tenfold increase over the number shipped in 2003; but over the same five-year period, the revenues they produced have multiplied by only five.

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"The tenfold increase in Wi-Fi chipset shipments since 2003 paired with a fivefold increase in revenues in the same period clearly highlights the falling average selling prices (ASPs) that we have seen as this market further matures," says senior analyst Philip Solis. "Although ASPs got a small boost last year due to the introduction of higher-priced 802.11n chips, in general prices have fallen by about half, even though we’re moving to more complex chipsets that increasingly use OFDM and MIMO technologies for 802.11n."

In 2007, Broadcom was the leading Wi-Fi chipset vendor. The company even widened its market lead over its competitors as it gained market share in the laptop segment.

The growth areas for this market in coming years will be found where Wi-Fi chips are embedded in more and more device types. Wi-Fi IC vendors should tailor their strategies accordingly. Consumer electronics (home theater equipment, gaming devices, portable media players), mobile handsets and computer peripherals will all see increased rates of Wi-Fi penetration. "While CE products will initially see more Wi-Fi inclusion," Solis continues, "we expect that by 2011 they will be overtaken by mobile handsets. Mobile Internet devices (MIDs) will become increasingly significant as well."

Brazilian mobile operator Vivo has announced a tripling of its planned investment for 2008 to BRL6.07 billion (USD3.48 billion), up from BRL1.92 billion in 2007. It is not clear, however, if the proposed capital expenditure for the current year includes the BRL1.3 billion acquisition of rival carrier Telemig. Vivo’s CAPEX is considerably higher than the figures announced by rivals TIM Brasil (BRL3.6 billion) and Telecom Americas’ Claro unit (BRL700 million).

Several years back, it was a privilege for employees to have their own computer in their work stations. Unfortunately most of them did not know how to fully make use of the machines. A new trend is catching on among some Kenyan firms in their bid to cut down on costs: sharing of the PC. Instead of a PC for every employee, a single PC is being used by up to 10 people.

But what does this really mean for the company as well as the employees? "The concept of having shared PCs is definitely working well for the company, but employees are at a disadvantage," said John Munyiri, IT manager Dyer & Blair.

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Having been in operation for a year, Munyiri told the Business Daily that the stockbroking firm has been able to cut down on expenditure by 60 per cent by having a shared PCs.

However, a major setback to the users is work interruption. Since several employees share the resource, if the machine goes down, all the users are affected. It may not be as dynamic for the users as they are not able to manage their own machine.

Some users also complain that there is infringement on their privacy as other people are able to view their documents. However, this should not be case, according to George Njoroge, managing director East Africa Data Handlers, which supplies Windows PC Station, networking devices that use Windows over Internet Protocol to connect a host PC to serve 10 station users independently.

"If every user has their own configured and independent profile, privacy is assured since the user can only access the network through their password," he said.

The local supplier added that many users share the resources of the host computer, such as CPU, memory, hard disk, driver and each user can simultaneously share the resources of the host independently and securely.

The operation is the same with that of host. The PC sharing concept can widely apply in an office with a large workforce, hospitals, call centres, training centre, as well as libraries. The Windows PC Station can incorporate as many as 32 users.

"Think of the cost of 32 computers? If you were to buy each of the 32 computers at price x, think of the number of installations you have to install to have to configure the 32 computers, not counting antivirus protection and other technical support issues. Now that is the cost that you cut down," explained Njoroge.

Another company that has recently implemented the concept is Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers. Explaining how the concept works, Ronald Simiyu, the IT manager said that one PC with 10 terminals attached on the network is used to serve 10 employees.

The company has saved on cost of hardware by up to 40 per cent, instead of purchasing the 10 PCs, one machine can do. The PC multi user also shares the terminal with USB port and Touch screen port. Also the companies using this central PC system save on licensing costs as only one licence is required.

"We have been able to save up to 80 per cent on the software since we do not need 10 licences for the 10 machines we used before switching to the sharing concept," said Simiyu.

South Africa has surpassed the 1 Million broadband subscriber mark. South Africa now has more than 1 Million broadband connections, made up mainly of ADSL and HSDPA subscribers.

Telkom currently has in the region of 415 000 ADSL subscribers, and previously indicated that it is on track to hit their 420 000 target by the end of March. Vodacom has 360 000 3G/HSDPA data card users while MTN recently announced that they now have 120 000 3G/HSDPA data card users on their South African network. This brings the total number of ADSL and HSDPA subscribers to 895 000.

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iBurst currently has 60 000 subscribers while it is estimated that around 45,000 broadband users are served by Wireless Internet Service Providers around the country. Add the few thousand MyWireless users and it brings the total number of broadband subscribers to just over 1 Million.

While this is a milestone well worth celebrating in the local broadband environment, the country’s broadband penetration rate of 2% is still very far below international standards.

The average broadband penetration rate in OECD countries is 18.8% with Denmark, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Korea, Norway and Iceland leading the way with over 29 subscribers per 100 inhabitants each.

Experts estimate that the number of broadband connections will grow to between 1.5 Million and 2 Million by 2010.

A novel idea to take voice and data services to the most rural areas could see Vodacom and MTN paid subsidies to do the job. The operators have to promise high-quality services even the poorest people can afford in return for having up to 80% of infrastructure subsidised. But the cost will not hit taxpayers as the cash will come from the Universal Service Fund, to which the operators themselves contribute.

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The plan was mooted by the Universal Service and Access Agency of SA after the failure of efforts to help small black companies take telecoms services to poor, rural areas. CEO James Theledi said the big commercial players were rightly hesitant to tackle some of those areas as they were expensive to reach and had no potential to generate revenue.

Even where mobile operators had made inroads, the services were still expensive, and offered only voice calls rather than data.The agency handed millions of rands in grants to small black companies that won licences to operate in underserviced areas, but many fizzled out. Only one is actually still operating.

They had lacked the cash, training and experience to be successful, Theledi said, while regulatory issues and delays in allocating spectrum also fuelled their failure.The only solution was to offer incentives and subsidies to commercial players, he said.

The agency rates 27 areas as underserviced. In one, Umzinyathi in KwaZulu-Natal, 64% of the population has no electricity, 94% no landlines and 69% no cellphones.

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Fresh research will calculate what it will cost to provide full voice and data coverage."If R50m is required in one area the subsidy could be R35m to R40m," Theledi said."If 27 areas need R40m each we will say this is the money required from the Universal Service Fund." The subsidies could be launched next year through open tenders, and the company requesting the smallest subsidy and promising the most affordable services would win.

Last year, US$32.5 million sat idle in the Universal Service Fund as the Treasury refused to hand it over until the agency submitted sound business plans. The cash comes from an annual levy of 0.2% on revenue generated by each telecoms company.

According to a new report from Portio Research, forecasts predict that 2008 will be the year that the worldwide mobile industry becomes a one Trillion US Dollar industry. For an industry to go from zero to USD 1 trillion in just 20 years is a staggering achievement, equal to a CAGR of almost 30 percent sustained for 20 years, an achievement previously unequalled by any other industry at any time in human history.

2007 became the year to see worldwide mobile handset shipments exceed 1 billion for the first time, and as 2008 begins so the world also crosses the highly significant 50 percent mobile penetration point, and the industry enters a year where gross industry revenues are set to reach 1 trillion Dollars. This is truly an exciting time to be in the mobile and wireless industry.

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As mobile voice prices have declined and margins have come under intense pressure, network operators have been forced to look at non-voice services to win new customers and boost margins. A wide variety of value-added non-voice services have emerged, from messaging and mobile music, to email, mobile TV and video downloads, location based services, games, gambling and mobile payment services.

In 2007, worldwide, non-voice services accounted for 18.9 percent of total mobile services revenues, and this figure looks set to keep growing, reaching more than 25.5 percent by the end of 2012. To put that in context, worldwide consumer spending on non-voice mobile services in 2012 will exceed US$251 Billion - more than a quarter of a trillion Dollars per annum.

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In 2008 the researchers estimate MNOs worldwide will collect total revenues of US$874.3 billion. Interestingly, voice and SMS get little publicity in the mobile world these days. Just take a look at the conference agenda for the annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February 2008. Looking down the list of topics covered in the 4 day conference, all the talk is about mobile TV and video, HSPA, mobile IM, DRM, mobile finance, mobile search, social networking, data pricing and mobile enterprise solutions.

All of these are exciting growth areas and most of these topics offer a great deal of promise for the future. But amid all this excitement, there is barely one mention of voice as a subject, and barely any mention of SMS as an application, yet voice and SMS generate 90 percent of the total service revenues flowing into this industry right now, and it’s predominantly voice and SMS that have built this US$1 trillion business over the last 20 years.

Portio Research's forecasts show that in 2008, 88.9 percent of total MNO service revenues worldwide will come from voice and SMS, and that figure is likely to remain as high as 85 percent even by the end of 2011. But that still leaves more than US$161 billion from data services in 2008, rising to over US$251 by 2011.

Ka-ching, ka-ching. European wireless carriers are being told to expect 50 percent of the population to use their mobile handsets to access the broadband Internet by 2012. But most carriers won't be able to handle it alone.

An ongoing report series from Exane BNP Paribas and Arthur D. Little also says wireless service providers "have a job to do" in catching up with consumer expectations regarding mobile broadband, and part of that work will lead to greater fixed-mobile network integration. Carriers will experience huge growth in mobile broadband traffic - as is already seen in some advanced countries like Austria.

To accomplish this, mobile operators will be partnering with fixed-infrastructure providers, with Arthur D. Little and Exane BNP Paribas forecasting that 20 percent of mobile broadband traffic could be carried through fixed networks.

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"Wireless providers can expect to enjoy re-accelerating revenue growth (2.6 percent per year between 2007 and 2012), but the integration of fixed infrastructure into their networks will have a negative impact on their margins," the report says. "Revenue streams from products that converge fixed and mobile broadband will increasingly be the focus of new product development for both mobile operators and fixed broadband providers."

Last year, the authors predicted that "within the next two to three years, Internet players could compete with mobile operators." This year, however, they say telecom providers "are facing the tightening grip of fast-growing global Internet giants on Internet services and on the monetization of online advertising plus the increasing pressure from global hardware manufacturers who also want to develop revenue streams from Internet and content service. As such, operators will struggle with developing revenue streams from Internet services and advertising. The bulk of their revenues and profits will continue to come from connectivity."

"We believe that mobile broadband offers large opportunities for value creation at all levels of the value chain but, while telecom operators have traditionally occupied a prime spot in the value chain, they face fast-moving competition from sophisticated global giants coming from the Internet and hardware worlds," comments Jean-Luc Cyrot of Arthur D. Little's TIME Practice. As such, to create opportunities for growth in an "all-IP" environment, telecom carriers can't avoid collaboration with these global giants.

The report also notes domestic consolidation will continue this year, especially among fixed providers. As a result (and this is important), the number of fixed and mobile network operators in each of the European markets will fall progressively from seven to four - on average. "In particular, sub-scale broadband providers will be under mounting pressure as a result of the move to triple-play, fiber and mobile broadband competition," it adds.

Beyond local market consolidation, a wider-ranging pan-European consolidation could be on the cards. The report outlines two scenarios for the sector: the "Access Specialization" scenario that could benefit small, aggressive providers; and the "Pan-European Consolidation" scenario that has larger operators scooping up the smaller providers. According to Antoine Pradayrol, head of the telecom team at Exane BNP Paribas in London, "It is increasingly clear that larger multi-country operators have an advantage in negotiating with Internet giants and device manufacturers. This could become a very powerful rationale for pan-European consolidation of telecom operators."

Cubans finally will be allowed to have their own cellphones, under a decree issued today by new Cuban dictator Raoul Castro, who has been busily lifting some of the more onerous restrictions imposed by his older brother.

The move follows permission from Raul for the population, starting next week, to buy PCs, DVD players and other consumer-electronics gear and various appliances. Toasters will be available on the island starting in 2010, for instance, for the first time in more than a decade.

Cuba has had cellular service - both TDMA and GSM - but it has been restricted to companies, foreigners and top government officials. Coverage, outside of Havana and some major cities, is spotty at best and generally nonexistent. At least some Cubans, however, are said to have managed to circumvent the rules, generally by getting non-Cubans or others with the right to a phone to subscribe for them. But the bottom line has been that cellular penetration on the island nation has remained the lowest in the Western Hemisphere as a result of the long-standard ban.

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News of the change of heart appeared as a small item in this morning's issue of the Communist Party newspaper Granma, which reported that telecommunications monopoly Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A. (ETECSA) - partially funded by Italcom - said it would allow the general public to sign prepaid wireless contracts.

Somewhat amusingly, the Cuban government gave tacit consent to those who had managed to obtain cellphones despite the ban on such ownership. "In the next days, the public will be informed of the procedures for changes of title for Cuban citizens who to date have acquired cell phones indirectly, and the initiation of new contracts for interested Cubans," ETECSA said.

There was, though, one hitch to the ETECSA announcement. Prepaid subscribers will have to hand over so-called "Cuban Convertible Pesos," a form of "hard" currency worth 24 times the regular pesos in which Cuban state employees are paid. Given that the average monthly state salary is 408 pesos, worth a little less than $20 (less than the price of a nice Cohiba, if you can find one), that's not going to leave much left for the average Cuban to buy cellular service for now (however, housing, education, health care, basic food needs and much else is free). ETECSA did, though, hold out hope that, at some indeterminate time in the future, it would start accepting regular pesos for service.

With the Summer Olympics now only months away, China finally has given permission to start commercial trials of 3G cellular technology but, at this point, only of the country's home-grown Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA).

China has been promising some sort of 3G service in time for the international event, and the country's (and the world's) largest carrier, China Mobile, has now built TD-SCDMA networks in eight cities, including the five Olympic venues. Interestingly, the Chinese have not yet formally issued frequency spectrum allocations for 3G, but that's apparently going to be little more than a formality. Under its commercial trial license, China Mobile reveals, it's built a network with a capacity of some eight million users.

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The launch of 3G in China has been an international political hot potato for years now, with other countries charging that the Chinese have been dragging their feet on 3G in order to give TD-SCDMA time to be developed. That's allegedly to prevent the use of other 3G standards - WCDMA and CDMA2000 - even though, technically, they have been made legal in China by a reportedly reluctant government caving in to international pressure. Still, reports are that there's major pressure on China Mobile, China Unicom and other carriers to "choose" TD-SCDMA, a situation that would thus favor Chinese manufacturers in what has emerged as the world's biggest single cellphone market. Carriers reportedly served 565 million mobile phone users by the end of last month, estimated at about a 43-percent penetration rate of the total available market. Such pressure, many argue, would violate China's free trade commitments.

Indeed, China Telecom started a TD-SCDMA pilot two years ago that was supposed to lead to 3G by the end of 2006 (TelecomWeb news break, Dec. 30, 2005), with the delays said to be due to the need to fix problems with TD-SCDMA revealed in the pilot. New networks trials recently reported by Chinese news media have gone off without a hitch, setting the stage for today's announcement.

The government and China Mobile also haven't said how long the commercial trials will last, although it is understood they will continue through the Olympics, with foreigners able to get their hands on TD-SCDMA handsets during the games. Just how many of handsets will be available during the Olympics is also not known but the initial tests, which begin next Tuesday, will (according to one report) include 20,000 handsets given to lucky testers for free, and additional handsets available to others at subsidized prices of $282 to $564 each. The test is also to include 5,000 PC cards. The handsets are coming from China's Lenovo, Hisense, ZTE and New Postcom along with South Korea's Samsung and LG. Other manufacturers, most notably Nokia and Motorola, have in the past said they will decide what handsets to make after the Chinese issue 3G licenses and it's clear what standard or standards Chinese carriers will support.

Those buying the handsets and signing up for service in those cities where 3G will be available - Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Xiamen and Qinhuangdao - reportedly will get a cash allowance, according to some reports, or a 50-percent discount on monthly fees, according to others, while the trials are in progress. According to Chinese news media, incoming calls will be free, while outgoing calls will cost 5 cents per minute. Entry-level data service, limited to 30 MB of traffic, will cost $1.25 per month, with packages ranging to $37.50 for 8 GB. It wasn't known what fees would be charged for other planned services like mobile TV and video conferencing.

Point Topicp's World Broadband Statistics (Q4 2007) examines global and regional broadband developments and technological innovation at the end of 2007. According to this report, there were some 350 million broadband subscribers worldwide by the end of 2007, representing 6.1% of the population. This represents a 24% increase from 2006 to 2007, when over 69 million people subscribed to broadband services. By 2007, Western Europe and North America lead in broadband penetration rates at 23.6 and 24.7 percent, respectively.

In absolute numbers, the USA continues to lead, with 73 million subscribers by the end of 2007, followed by China with 67 million subscribers. In terms of broadband penetration, Monaco takes the first place at 38%. Indeed, in Monaco, 94% of households have broadband services.

Figure 1: Share of world broadband subscribers by region in Q4 2007

DSL, FTTx and Cable moderm are the dominant broadband technoloies in the world. DSL is the most common technology with a 65% share of the global broadband market. Cable modem comes in second place, with 77 million subscribers a at the end of 2007.

Sales of mobile data cards, which enable broadband access in laptops via a service provider's mobile data network, are forecast by Infonetics Research to nearly quadruple between 2007 and 2011, when they will reach $2.9 billion.

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According to Infonetics' new report, these mobile data cards could threaten the WiFi hotspot market as HSDPA and EV-DO-based mobile broadband becomes more available, more affordable, and a higher performance choice.

"The mobile data services market is becoming more competitive, as mobile operators try to recoup their investments in 3G networks and drive up flattening ARPU (average revenue per user)," said Richard Webb, directing analyst for WiMAX, WiFi and mobile at Infonetics Research. "Currently, mobile data services are generally too expensive for mass market adoption, but that will change with the increasingly extensive rollout of high speed HSDPA, the launch of new data plans offering increased download limits, and better subsidies for mobile data cards. The iPhone has proven that if the user experience is right, users will take advantage of mobile devices for Internet sessions."

As mobile data plans become more affordable, the report says, consumers will use mobile data cards to enable download of Internet- based content (MP3s, games, video clips) to mobile devices and for transferring user-generated content (photos, video clips, etc.). A small proportion of consumers will use a mobile data plan as their primary means of broadband access.

Other highlights from the report:

Worldwide mobile subscribers topped 3 billion in 2007

Worldwide mobile data subscribers will accelerate dramatically over the next few years, reaching 144 million by 2011

Worldwide sales of smartphones reached $36.7 billion in 2007

Sales of mobile broadband routers are forecast to nearly quadruple between 2007 and 2011

In 2007, Nokia continued its strong lead in the mobile phone market, with 35% of worldwide revenue share, followed by Samsung and Motorola

VietNamNet Bridge has reported that ADSL penetration is not what it could be in Vietnam. ADSL first appeared in the country in 2004 and subscriptions grew 150% in both 2006 and 2007, but the percentage of ADSL users is still low. By September 2007 there were 4.9 million internet subscribers and around 17.5 million internet users, accounting for nearly 21% of the population, according to the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC). ADSL subscribers accounted for 21% of the total or around 1.04 million. Some 65% of them were in Hanoi and HCM City. ADSL charges in Vietnam are reported to be at similar level to other countries in Southeast Asia, but service quality is still lacking, with lower than promised speeds and unstable connections beyond Hanoi and HCM City.

Qatar’s monopoly telecoms provider Qatar Telecom (Qtel) has announced that it crossed the 1.4 million subscriber mark early this month, including around 1.2 million GSM mobile subscriptions and over 200,000 fixed lines. The achievement, in a country with a population of less than a million, was driven by positive customer response to recent promotions, particularly its current ‘Hala Line for Free’ campaign, according to a spokesperson. According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms database, wireless penetration in the country passed 100% in 2006, and Qtel signed up its one millionth mobile subscriber in March 2007. A rival GSM network being set up by a consortium led by Vodafone Group is scheduled to end Qtel’s monopoly by the end of this year.

According to DigiTimes.com, Taiwan's National Communications Commission (NCC) has approved a reduction by an average of 8.4% in monthly circuit-leased fees for using Chunghwa Telecom (CHT's) ADSL services. The cheaper tariffs, which will take effect from 1 April 2008, were proposed by the company following a request from the NCC that it lower its prices. Of CHT's ADSL customers, 3.526 million or 95.4% will be subject to the price cut. Since CHT is to cease installation of further 2Mbps/512Kbps ADSL services, the company has not offered price cuts for corresponding subscribers, the NCC added.

Belarus’ Deputy Minister of Informatisation and Communications Nikolai Strukov, is predicting that the country will be home to 500,000 broadband internet users by 2010, writes online news portal e-belarus.org. According to the minister, approximately 260,000 of these will be receiving high speed internet services from the national PTO Beltelecom, while a further 100,000 will be using alternative operators, he said. Home networks will also help to increase the number of xDSL users, Mr. Strukov added. The minister went on to say that the 500,000 forecast was a conservative one and that he expects the figure could be even higher, driven by the strong uptake of mobile broadband subscribers using 3G technology.

Beltelecom currently has 66,000 broadband internet subscribers and accounts for roughly 60% of the national market, with alternative service providers and resellers claiming the remainder.

The global handset market is forecast to see slowing growth for 2008, with year-on-year growth only achieving 5.7% according to the IMS Research Online Cellular Database. This is significantly lower than previous years, which enjoyed double digit growth. Shipments for new handsets are forecast to hit 1.19 billion for 2008, up from 1.12 billion in 2007.

The region that will experience the least impact is Asia, with China and India continuing to perform strongly, resulting in 10.7 percent growth from 2007 to 2008. The Americas will only experience 7% growth, largely as a result of economic challenges being faced in the US. Europe is forecast to experience negative growth at -1.2%, largely due to challenges being faced by the large number of highly penetrated markets.

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The slowdown in growth can be attributed to several factors. A general softening of the global economy is expected to have an impact on worldwide handset sales. The average consumer will have less disposable income available, which will restrict their ability to either upgrade their existing handset, or to add a second handset. This is coupled with the fact that many post-paid customers are being encouraged to sign 18-24 month contracts with their carriers, extending the replacement cycle and slowing growth. These factors will be especially relevant in mature markets such as Western Europe, which has a number of countries that are at or above 100% penetration. Growth in these areas is entirely dependant on consumers not only replacing existing handsets, but also purchasing additional handsets on the basis of specific features or aesthetics.

According to Bill Morelli, Mobile Technologies analyst at IMS Research, there are already signs of this slowdown occurring in the market. “Recent announcements from Texas Instruments and Sony Ericsson have highlighted the fact that demand is not as strong for high-end handsets, especially in mature markets” states Morelli. “While this is a cause for concern, the overall handset market is still expected to grow in 2008, just at a more conservative pace than initially expected.”

The global penetration rate for mobile handsets stands at 50%, leaving room in the market for continued growth, much of which is expected to come from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

CEO Marwan Al-Ahmadi has revealed that Zain Saudi Arabia plans to start operations by June of this year, over a network initially covering 53% of the population. Roaming agreements with rivals Saudi Telecom Company (STC) and Mobily will be sought to increase coverage further, although the executive did add that Zain planned to be fully dependent on its own infrastructure within the next three years.

China Netcom has posted an unexpected increase in full-year profit after signing up more broadband subscribers than expected. Net income for the twelve months ended 31 December 2007 rose to RMB10.58 billion (USD1.5 billion), from RMB10.55 billion a year earlier. Sales rose to RMB84 billion from a restated RMB84.1 billion in 2006. During the year Netcom’s broadband subscriber base rose 37% to 19.77 million, while its local access customers fell by 2.8% to 110.82 million, of which 84.6 million were fixed line (down 2.3% year-on-year) and 26.2 million PHS (down 4.1%). Broadband ARPU climbed 3.9% to RMB67.4 while the corresponding figure for local access slipped by 9.6% to RMB36.6.

MyBroadband.co.za reports that the South African broadband market now has more than one million broadband subscribers, made up mainly from ADSL and HSDPA customers. Dominant telco Telkom South Africa has 415,000 ADSL users and is on track to hit its target of 420,000 by the end of March. The two largest cellcos by customers and revenues, Vodacom and MTN, currently claim 360,000 and 120,000 3G/HSDPA datacard users respectively. Of the remainder, iBurst accounts for 60,000 subscribers via its BFWA/WiMAX networks, and a further 45,000 broadband customers are served by other wireless ISPs around the country.

Regulator Anacom has published fixed line market statistics for the fourth quarter of 2007. Portugal Telecom’s market share of ‘accesses installed at customer request’ fell to 71.9% from 78.1% at the start of the year as it continued to lose out to alternative operators, most notably Sonaecom-backed Novis, which boosted its share from 9% to 14.4% following the acquisition of the residential and SoHo business of Oni Telecom. Among the fastest growing fixed line operators is Vodafone, having tripled its market share from 0.4% to 1.2% in just twelve months.

India's Telecoms Regulatory Authority (TRAI) has reported that a total of 8.49 million telephone connections have been added during February 2008 as compared to 8.74 million connections added in January 2008. The total number of telephone connections reaches 290.11 million at the end of February 2008 as compared to 281.62 million in January 2008. The overall tele-density is 25.31% at the end of February 2008 as against 24.63% in January 2008.

In the wireless segment, 8.53 million subscribers have been added in the month of February 2008 as against 8.77 million subscribers added in the month of January 2008. The total wireless subscribers (GSM, CDMA & WLL(F)) base stood at 250.93 million at the end of February 2008.

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It may also be noted that the TRAI thinks that India is likely to become second largest wireless network in the world after China in the first half of April 2008.

According to CTIA website ( a Association of Wireless operators in US), the current subscriber base of USA is 256 million. US is adding about 2-3 million subscribers in a month where as China is adding around 6-7 million subscribers in a month. India's monthly wireless subscriber addition is highest in the range of 8-9 million a month. Thus the TRAI expects that India's wireless subscriber base during the first half of April 2008 will surpass that of USA and will become second largest wireless network in the world.

Not only this, the total subscriber base (wireless + wireline) of India will also cross 300 million mark in April 2008.

In the wireline segment, the subscriber base has slightly decreased to 39.18 million in the month of February 2008 as against 39.22 million subscribers in January 2008.

APA-Accra (Ghana) Ghana's parliament on Wednesday passed a controversial bill that will see mobile phone users pay a tax of one US cent for every minute they call.

The bill, introduced by the ruling New Patriotic Party, was described by a section of Ghanaians as obnoxious and calculated to stifle their ability to communicate freely.

The government explained to parliament that the implementation of the bill will enable it generate more revenue for development and also sustain the National Youth Employment Programme, which is near collapse as a result of inadequate funding.

However, the minority in parliament led by the National Democratic Congress party opposed the bill, saying that not all people in the country used mobile phones and the implementation would mean preventing people from talking more on mobile phones.

Parliament has tasked Ghana's National Communication Authority to ensure that mobile phone operators comply with the new legislation.

The European Commission hopes to lift average broadband penetration in the European Union to 30% by 2010, up from around 20% today, in a bid to stimulate economic growth. The EC’s Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding said yesterday that only eight of the bloc's 27 member states were currently beating the US in terms of broadband usage, while the average penetration rate lagged behind the 22.1% figure reported in the United States. Although a number of nations, such as Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden have rates closer to 30%, Reding wants to see a significant improvement across the board within the next two years. The Commissioner believes that her new telecoms reforms, currently before the European Parliament and EU states for approval, will help the trading bloc reach this 30% target. Reding hopes the reform bill will be adopted by April 2009 ahead of planned European elections in June.

KARACHI -(Dow Jones)- Foreign investment in Pakistan's telecom sector witnessed a 7.2% growth on year in the first six months of the current financial year that began July 1, government data issued Wednesday showed.

During the July-December period, foreigners invested $1.314 billion in the country's telecom sector compared with $1.225 billion during the same period last year, Islamabad-based Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said in a report.

During the last four years, the telecom sector has attracted over $5 billion as foreign direct investment, the report said.

While these four country markets will remain generally voice-centric throughout the forecast period, revenue share of the data segment will improve significantly from 17% in 2006 to over 30% by 2011.

Karen Rondon, Research Manager for IDC’s Philippines Telecommunications Research, said, "Corporate customers and consumers in the emerging Asian countries are highly cost-sensitive, and benefits and returns on investments are measured on a short-to-medium term. Services that require small immediate spending while providing immediate benefits would be most attractive to end-users."

The mobile data segment from the four countries is anticipated to escalate at 41% CAGR from 2007-2011, driven by expected growth in SMS usage. As more high-speed networks become available, other data revenue, apart from SMS, will rise in significance in the coming years.

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Fixed lines data, on the other hand, will grow at 24% CAGR from 2007-2011. The corporate data landscape will continue to be concentrated on dedicated leased lines throughout the forecast period, although take-up of IP-based services will gradually increase. Meanwhile, favorable government policies in the four countries will help boost IAS (Internet Access Services) take-up in the long term, increasing market awareness and education of the various Internet access services available.

In countries such as Bangladesh, a growing number of citizens who are migrating abroad could potentially drive future adoption. These citizens are becoming more and more exposed to modern telecommunication facilities and, through constant communication with families back home, would aid in encouraging adoption of various telecommunication services, including Internet access. IDC expects XDSL and prepaid dial-up services will be the most preferred Internet services in the emerging Asian country markets.

A third GSM network operator has launched was Albania last week. Eagle Mobile, a joint venture between Turkish Calik Holding, Turkish Telecom and the Albanian State has launched with coverage in Tirana and Durres cities, the territory between and country's the only International Airport.

The company says that it now covers about half the country's population, using infrastructure supplied by Huawei and Amdocs.

93 percent of the employees of Eagle Mobile are Albanian, and the company plans to create a field of activity for more then 1000 Albanian people.

The country currently has two mobile operators, Vodafone and AMC. According to figures from the Mobile World, the country ended last September with some 2.2 million subscribers, representing a population penetration level of 61%

Albania is a parliamentary democracy that is transforming its economy into a market-oriented system. The Albanian capital, Tirana, is home to 750,000 of the country's 3.6 million population. As a result of the opening of the country in the post-communist era, Albania is now undergoing a development boom as its telecommunications, transport and utilities infrastructure is being revamped.

Earlier today, figures released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) point to that country becoming the second largest wireless market in the world by the end of April.

More than 8.5 million wireless subscribers were added in February, compared with 8.77 million subs who cut the cord in January. The total wireless subscriber base (GSM, CDMA & WLL[F]) stood at 250.93 million at the end of February.

Currently, China is the world's largest wireless network, and it's adding between 6 million and 7 million subscribers every month. According to CTIA-The Wireless Association, the current U.S. wireless subscriber base is 256 million. The United States is adding between 2 million and 3 million subscribers in a month, while India's monthly wireless subscriber addition is highest, in the range of between 8 million and 9 million a month, TRAI says.

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The subscriber bases (in millions) of China, the United States and India for the last four months are portrayed in the chart below:

Country

Nov-07

Dec-07

Jan-08

Feb-08

China

521.36

527.97

534.58

540.50 (estimated)

United States

251.94

255.32

257.45

260.50 (estimated)

India

225.46

233.63

242.40

250.93 (estimated)

On the wireline side, a total of 8.49 million telephone connections were added last month, compared with 8.74 million connections added in January. The total number of telephone connections reached 290.11 million at the end of February compared with 281.62 million in January. The overall tele-density was set at 25.31 percent at the end of February, compared with 24.63 percent in January.

On the broadband side (=256 Kbps download), the total broadband subscriber base in India hit 3.47 million at the end of February, compared with 3.24 million at the end of January.

The number of mobile connections in Pakistan squeezed past the 80m barrier in February, reaching 80.001m at the end of the month. In Issue 105 of The Mobile World Briefing, we remarked that growth seemed to be slowing in Pakistan and the latest result confirms this impression: the figure for monthly net additions (1.26m) was the lowest since November 2005.

February 2008's figure was almost half that of February 2007, when there were 2.20m new connections. Moreover, February represented the second consecutive month with fewer than 2m new connections, the first such occurrence in two years.

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Monthly Net Additions (000), July 05 - Feb 08

Market leader Mobilink, Orascom's Pakistani subsidiary, finished February with 31.06m customers. Although it remained over 14m customers ahead of its nearest rival Pakistan Telecom Mobile (U-Fone), its 0.4pp decline in market share to 38.8% at the end of February made it 24 straight months of market share loss. U-Fone gained 0.2pp in the month to hit 21.1% with 16.85m customers, but Telenor was up 0.5pp to 20.0% and narrowed the deficit in real terms to less than 1m. Telenor's figure of 665k monthly net additions was the best in the market for the second successive month, and it took its total subscriber base to 16.02m.

Fourth-placed Warid also put in a good performance in February with 406k new connections taking its total to 13.61m, but this was not enough to gain any market share and it remained flat on 17.0%.

Meanwhile, China Mobile subsidiary Paktel followed three consecutive months of double-digit proportionate growth with an 8.9% decline, shedding 210k connections to hit 2.15m. Clearly the extraordinary growth witnessed in the period between October 07 and January 08 - during which it more than doubled its subscriber base - was unsustainable.

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